Tag: Nicholas Soames

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on the EU Global Strategy.

Mr David Lidington

At the European Council meeting of 25-26 June, European leaders asked the EU High Representative to prepare an EU Global Strategy on foreign and defence policy to replace the 2003 European Security Strategy, which was last updated in 2008. It will identify and describe EU Member State interests, priorities and objectives, existing and evolving threats, challenges and opportunities, and the instruments and means to meet them. The Government supports this initiative, which complements the UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review, and has engaged regularly with the High Representative during its preparation. The Government believes that the Global Strategy can enhance UK and other Member State foreign and security policy by covering the full range of EU external action tools.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-07-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what additional support and resources her Department is providing to assist West Sussex County Council in meeting its universal broadband obligations.

Matt Hancock

The Government has implemented a basic broadband scheme to enable all premises to gain access to speeds of at least 2Mbps. This enables residents to gain access to every government service available online. Funding for subsidised connections through the scheme is provided by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) as part of the government’s superfast broadband programme. Consumers in eligible premises can access services from any of the suppliers who have been entered onto the scheme by BDUK.

In addition it is the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation. This will give people the legal right to request a broadband connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament. Our ambition is that the minimum download speed should initially be set at 10 Mbps.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many additional practice-based mental health therapists have been appointed to GP practices in Mid Sussex constituency since 2015-16.

David Mowat

NHS England advises that its south east regional team has not yet commissioned any additional practice-based mental health therapists in the Mid Sussex area.

NHS England’s General Practice Forward View, published in April 2016, sets out a commitment to invest in an extra 3,000 mental health therapists to work in primary care by 2020-21, which is an average of a full-time therapist for every two to three typical sized general practitioner practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has for developing for a crewed successor to Typhoon.

Harriett Baldwin

The Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2015 announced the out of service date for the Typhoon fleet would be extended to 2040. The Ministry of Defence will consider options to replace the capability closer to that date but so far no decision has been made.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which ongoing operations are funded by the core defence budget; and what the expenditure on each such operation was in each year from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Michael Fallon

The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The costs of military operations are compiled in terms of the net additional costs incurred, which are defined as those which the Department would not have incurred had the operation not taken place. The Department’s estimate of the net additional cost of military operations are recorded annually, and can be found in Table 2.3.1 in the Departments’ Annual Report and Accounts 2014-15 which is available at the following link;

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/462966/MOD_ARAc_combined_23_Sep_2015_web.pdf

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) Grade I listed buildings, (b) Grade II* listed buildings, (c) Grade II listed buildings and (d) scheduled monuments his Department owns; under which top level budget those buildings and monuments fall; and what plans he has for their disposal.

Mark Lancaster

Details of all Grade I listed buildings, Grade II* listed buildings, Grade II listed buildings and scheduled monuments the Department owns, including those which are located on sites that are currently in disposal are shown in the attached tables.

Details of the top level budget for these Monuments and Buildings could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the number of additional schools that will be needed to accommodate the predicted population rise over the next 25 years; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Timpson

Pupil forecasts based on ONS population projections have been made out to 2024 and they suggest that pupil numbers are due to rise significantly over that period. Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient schools to meet that need, and for determining precisely how many new schools are needed in their area.

We allocate funding for new school places to local authorities three years in advance in order to balance the need for robust forecasts and to ensure certainty for local authorities over their future funding allocations.

Providing this funding to support local authorities in creating additional school places is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is signalled by the £7 billion that this Government has committed to spend on new places over the course of this Parliament; as well as the £5 billion that the previous Coalition Government invested in school places between 2011 and 2015 (more than double the £1.9 billion spent between 2007 and 2011).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-11-25.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what datasets are collected under the provisions of the Statistics of Trade Act 1947.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what timetable he has set for the implementation of the Horserace Betting Right; and if he will make a statement.

Tracey Crouch

Work is continuing on the detailed policy design of the replacement for the existing levy. We will make a further announcement in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-01-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what alterations were made to the pulsion system of the Type 45 destroyer between the launch of the first and the sixth such destroyers.

Mr Philip Dunne

The decision to procure the Rolls Royce WR21 was taken in November 2000 by the then Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon. In announcing the decision, he accepted this decision "presents a greater degree of risk to the programme."

Following that decision a number of issues with the Type 45 Integrated Electrical Propulsion (IEP) system were identified when the First of Class, HMS Daring was launched in 2006.

From 2006 to the launch of the sixth and final Type 45 in October 2010, the Type 45 Destroyer class had around fifty minor design alterations directly attributable to the development of the Type 45 IEP system identified. The subsequent implementation process for acceptance of these alterations is necessarily rigorous to maintain safety and system design intent. As a result, the majority of Type 45 IEP alterations were implemented after the launch of the last of class.

A report was commissioned in 2011 to examine the reliability of the power and propulsion system in greater detail. This work was re-assessed in 2013 to examine the extent to which the issues identified in the report had been dealt with, (by changes to operating procedures and training) and establish which were not simply the problems associated with a new complex system.

As part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 the Government is committed to improving the Type 45’s power and propulsion system an ongoing Equipment Improvement Plan is successfully making further alterations to the existing power and propulsion system.

Over the last two years, Type 45 Destroyers have been routinely deployed to the Gulf to maintain a destroyer presence in the region, including HMS Defender’s support to US Carrier operations against Daesh.